Chapter Twenty-Five
Ice
I don't own "My Love" by Justin Timberlake or Glade.
The windows were open as far as they could go, but still that wasn't enough to get rid of the heat inside Melissa's house. She was too hot. The power was still out at 8:30, but it looked to be about 10:30 with the amount of light that they had. Melissa felt like she could hardly breathe, the humidity was so bad. She felt sweat gather on her forehead.
"It's too hot in here," she said. "I think I'm going to die."
Jack laughed. "Ye're not goin' to die. I know 'ow you could cool off, but at the risk of recievin' a slap..."
"Good choice," she said. Melissa got up and went to the freezer and got two ice cubes and handed one to Jack.
"It's cold!" he said, dropping it on the floor.
"And you're hot. Do the math." She sat back down and slowly rubbed it on her forehead. The cool sensation felt nice against her hot skin.
"I'm used to this," he said. "This is nothin'. Spend a summer in the Caribbean, then talk to me 'bout 'eat."
"What's it like there?" she asked. "Summer in the Caribbean...must be nice. All the sun and water someone could ask for it."
"Aye," Jack said, putting the ice cube on one of her cheeks. "It's gorgeous there."
"Maybe someday we could go back there. Just you and me."
"Will there be rum?" he asked.
"Sure," she smiled.
He put his ice cube on her other cheek to even out the coolness and brushed a wet strand of hair away from her forehead. "You coolin' down?"
"Yes," she said softly. "Thank you, Jack."
Silence.
"I could see us holdin' hands, walkin' on the beach, our toes in the sand..." she sang softly.
"What?" Jack asked.
"It's a song. 'My Love.'"
"How nice of you to use terms of endearment," he said. "And it's only taken ya six days."
"No, that's the title of the song. 'My Love' is the name of it."
Jack trailed the ice cube down her neck. Melissa started laughing and squirming. "Jack!" she squealed. "That's cold!"
He held her close and kept the ice cube on her neck.
"Jack!" she squealed again. "Stop it!"
"Persuade me."
She took his hand on her neck and kissed him gently on the lips. "I'm starting to like persuading you."
"Ye're persuadin' me to like persuasion," he said.
But why are the flashlights gone?
Kate knew where they were, they were downstairs in the crawlspace. But she was not about to go downstairs and hurt herself trying to do so just for some light. She could do it perfectly fine with a few candles. It would make things seem little more romantic, too.
"I'm so sorry!" Kate said to Will, trying to find a candle in the storage cabinet by the refrigerator. "I know we have them somewhere!"
"Wait," Will said, touching her hand to make her stop searching. "I see one." He pulled out a Glade candle.
"How can you see in the dark?" she asked.
"I was in the dark a lot. We don't have...what is it called...energy? Yes, we didn't have energy back then, so I got used to seeing things in the dark."
He put the candle on the counter. Kate struck a match and light it. "Strawberries and Cream," Kate said, reading the label of the glass container. "My favorite. Do you think we'll need another?"
"No," Will said. "I think we will be fine."
She walked to the dining room table with you and sat down. It was 9:00 now. The power had been out for three and a half hours. She guessed that it wouldn't come back until tomorrow morning, maybe overnight if they were lucky.
The storm that came through was pretty big. She had heard that there was a tornado in southern Minnesota. There had been severe storms still rolling through the area all day. No damage was done in her area, though, luckily.
She heard more rain gently coming down and hitting the window. Kate had always liked the rain, especially when she was trying to sleep. It had always relaxed her and put her to sleep.
Will and Kate sat next to each other, their bodies toward the other. Kate was the one holding the candle, until Will decided to put his hands on her's and hold it, too.
His face was illuminated in the faint glow of the candle. She could see that his features looked particularly strong, but his eyes remained soft. His bone structure was more shadowed and his jaw lines seemed more sharp.
"Kate," Will said.
His voice. It was starting to give her chills. Or was it because he looked so handsome in the candle light?
"Yes?" she whispered, looking into his eyes.
"I love you."
Wow...he did love her. She felt ecstatic that he said that. But did she really want to go into love again? And how could she say those words when she felt something for Jack?
"You don't want to love a girl like me," she said.
"Why not?" he asked, a hand gently resting on her cheek.
"Because I'm just going to end up breaking your heart."
His face remained still. He didn't even break her gaze or look even the least bit sad. He probably thought it was a lie.
"I'm willing to take that risk, Katherine," he said.
Typical, she thought. Will has to play Mr. I-Will-Take-The-Consequences-Of-My-Actions.
Why did she want to say it so bad? Why couldn't she just tell Will that she really did love him? It wasn't hard to say three words! Why did she have to be so stubborn?!
Kate felt blank. She did not deserve a man that loved her as much as Will when she was feeling something for Jack. She didn't deserve anyone, really. If she was torn between two men, then why did she deserve such a nice one, just to make her feel guilty?
Because that's life, she thought.
Will had thought that it was the perfect night to say "I love you" to Kate. They had candles and it was just the two of them with no interruptions...
Will had said it, and what did Kate say in return? "You don't want to love a girl like me."
Was Will a little hurt? Not really. He knew that it was only a week and that not everyone could feel the same way as the other in but a week's time.
What else did she say? "I'll just end up breaking your heart."
That was the part that confused Will. Did she mean that she didn't love him? No, she could see it in her eyes that she did...she just seemed a little confused. That was understandable. Will had been through love. It could get very confusing.
He figured time was all that she needed. Soon she'd be saying "I love you" over and over again to him.